Australian football stars share harrowing earthquake tales

Socceroos striker Josh Kennedy endured a terrifying 10 minutes in a wobbling bullet train as his Nagoya Grampus teammates were heading towards one of the areas hit hardest by the tsunami, the northern city of Sendai.

12 March 2011Michael Cockerill

SOCCEROOS striker Josh Kennedy endured a terrifying 10 minutes in a wobbling bullet train as his Nagoya Grampus teammates were heading towards one of the areas hit hardest by the tsunami, the northern city of Sendai.

Kennedy is one of five Australians contracted to Japanese clubs, while a sixth, Socceroos defender Jade North, was also caught up in the drama as he completed a medical test in Tokyo having just signed a deal with an unnamed club.

Kennedy's Nagoya team was heading into Tokyo on the bullet train en route to Sendai, where they were scheduled to play Vegalta yesterday, when the earthquake struck. ''Josh said the train wobbled for about 10 minutes on the tracks, which was pretty scary for everyone, before things settled down,'' said his manager, John Grimaud.

''The train obviously wasn't going anywhere for a while after that, and they were stuck for about five or six hours before it turned back towards Nagoya. He eventually got back home about 2am, a bit shaken but otherwise OK.''

Grimaud also manages Spiranovic, whose club, Urawa, is based in the north-west commuter belt of Tokyo. ''I was actually on Skype with Matty just before the earthquake hit,'' Grimaud said. ''He texted me back to say the floor started shaking and the pictures were coming off the wall of his apartment.

''He got out onto the street pretty quickly after that.''

Perhaps the most graphic account of the drama came from former Sydney FC player Milligan, whose club is based in Chiba, on the northern shores of Tokyo Bay.

Milligan fled his apartment with his young family to take shelter at JEF United's clubhouse, which is just a kilometre away from the Ichihara oil refinery that caught fire and has been blazing out of control since the earthquake struck. ''It shook the whole area, and our place is a mess,'' he told website FourFourTwo. ''We [his wife and young son] ran down the stairs, and then when I went back up to get clothes and stuff, it hit again.

''We couldn't use the car because the car park is a multi-level thing and it's all shut down. So we've walked here to the clubhouse, and we should be all right. I can see the oil refinery exploding - it's right next door.''

Sydney FC was due to leave tomorrow night for a match with Japan's Kashima Antlers but the game has been postponed.